Attorney wants murdered man’s wife barred from inheritance payouts
MONTGOMERY CITY, Mo. (KMIZ) -
An attorney handling the estate of snake breeder Ben Renick wants his wife barred from collecting anything from his inheritance.
Carla Wood Tanzey, the court-appointed administrator of Renick's belongings, asked a judge to stop Lynlee Renick from getting any part of Ben's estate. Tanzey wrote that their daughter should be named to sole heir to Ben's estate. Doing so would put her one stop closer to finally closing out the court's supervision of the estate.
A hearing over Tanzey's request is set for Thursday in Montgomery County.
A jury convicted Lynlee Renick of second-degree murder and armed criminal action in December for Ben's death at their snake farm near New Florence. She received a 16-year prison sentence a month later based on the jury's recommendation of 13 years for murder and three years for the gun crime. Prosecutors claimed she and her ex-boyfriend Michael Humphrey killed Ben over marital problems the Renicks had, and Lynlee's desire to get part of the money from Ben's recent life insurance policies and million-dollar sale from many of his snakes.
Tanzey said state law precludes a spouse from collecting any of their deceased partner's inheritance for committing "misconduct." She wrote that she hoped to have the details of the estate finalized soon, closing the case. Tanzey also asked a judge to stop Lynlee from getting any property or other allowances from the estate.
Attorneys have spent years figuring out how to handle Ben Renick's estate following his death. Ben's brother, Sam Renick, tried intervening after the $740,000 sale of their Montgomery County property in 2018. Sam Renick settled his claim for $18,000. Attorneys also argued over the sale of Renick's snakes with NHL goaltender Robin Lehner for $1.2 million. Both sides settled their disagreements in 2019 over undisclosed terms.
Ben and Lynlee's two children each have nearly half a million dollars in life insurance payments from Ben's death. Both have been placed into trusts in separate Boone County cases.
